BOGTRYKMUSEET I ESBJERG

About the house

The building, which presently is owned by Esbjeg Kommune, and which is at “Bogtrykmuseet i Esbjerg” disposal, were build for Niels Hedegårs Ægpakkeri (egg packing room). Niels Hedegaard and his family lived in the front building, which, at the time being, houses Kvindernes Krisecenter (a crisis center for women). In the basement there was a butter packing room. In those days eggs and butter was a massive export article to Great Britain.

In 1953 the smith I.C. Nielsen bought the property, and hereafter used it as a forge. It was not until 1978 that Esbjerg Kommune took possession over the house, and on the first of November 1979 “Esbjerg typografisk Laug” got the right of using the house, and established “Bogtrykmuseet i Esbjerg”, which was opened in 1981. There are, of course, a lot of experiences attached to a house as old as this. Amongst others a fire aroused at the end of the occupation. And because Denmark still had the blackout, a lot of German soldiers immediately came together, afraid that the RAF could not avoid seeing the blaze from Borgergade. On the first floor the manager Søren Rasmussen had hidden a machine gun, and the basement was filled with eggs, which the German troops more than gladly would get hold of.